Overseas Student Health Cover

All international students on a student visa must have Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC). This cover provides medical and hospital insurance. You and your dependants must maintain suitable OSHC for the duration of your visa and must not arrive in Australia before your health insurance starts.

Exceptions

a Norwegian student covered by the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme;

a Swedish student covered by CSN International or Kammarkollegiet or

a Belgian student covered under the Reciprocal Health Care Agreement with Australia.

Length of cover

You must obtain OSHC for the proposed duration of your student visa. You must not arrive in Australia before your health insurance starts. If you undertake more than one course as part of a packaged offer, your OSHC must be valid from the day you arrive in Australia for the duration of your course visa.

What is covered?

All OSHC providers must provide a minimum level of cover which is equivalent to the cover provided by Medicare to Australian citizenships. Some providers may offer extra services. Allianz Global Assistance provides the following cover:

24 hour emergency assistance and medical advice

Partial coverage of medical services provided by a General Practitioner (GP)

Partial coverage of diagnostic services (pathology and radiology)

Shared ward accommodation in public hospitals

Some prescription medicines

Emergency ambulance cover

Allianz Global Assistance has direct billing doctors who will not charge you for their service, or will charge you only the GAP fee. Allianz members can also access Doctors on Demand, a 24/7 phone or video doctor consultation service.

There are some costs that are not covered by OSHC insurers. These may include treatment for pre-existing conditions, or pregnancy related treatment. Please check the Allianz product information page to learn more about what the OSHC does/does not cover.

Applying for cover

To apply for OSHC, complete the relevant section of your Letter of Offer and Acceptance Agreement and include payment for your cover when you pay your deposit. MIT will then purchase OSHC for you.

Comprehensive OSHC

Allianz is the preferred OSHC provider at MIT. The policy offers students three types of cover:

Singles – covers only the valid student visa holder

Dual family – covers the valid student holder and either:

One adult spouse or de facto partner or

One or more children under the age of 18 years old

Multi-family – covers the valid student visa holder and more than one dependent, which can include:

Cost

Your Letter of Offer will list how much your OSHC will cost for a single, dual or multi-family cover policy based on the duration of your course(s). This should be paid with your deposit when you submit your Letter of Offer and Acceptance Agreement.

You should indicate which cover you require on your Letter of Offer and Acceptance Agreement. You will then be required to pay the cost for your chosen policy when you pay your course deposit.

Renewing your OSHC

You must maintain valid OSHC for the duration of your student visa. If you have transferred from another institution and your cover will expire before you complete your principal (final) course at MIT, you must renew your OSHC before your current cover expires. Your OSHC e-membership card shows the expiry date of your cover.

If you have an existing OSHC

If you already have OSHC, you must provide evidence of visa-length cover in your visa application. This means that you must be able to show that you have OSHC for the proposed duration of your student visa – from the beginning of your first course until you complete your principal (final) course.

Get the Allianz My OHSC app

Your OSHC membership card

You can access your e-membership card through the My OSHC Assistant app. If you prefer to order a plastic hardcopy membership card, you will need to:

nominate an Australian postal address for delivery

present this membership card every time you visit a medical service provider

Extras cover for ancillary services (optional)

You are not covered for ancillary type medical services such as dental, optical, physiotherapy, chiropractic and osteopathic. Read the policy document carefully so you understand which services are and are not covered. If you want to upgrade your cover, Allianz provide affordable OSHC Extras cover tailored to overseas students studying in Australia. For information on OSHC Extras cover, refer to: